Obama leads in battle for Latino vote: Surprising advantage over McCain

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT: CAMPAIGN '08: Demographics
Obama leads in battle for Latino vote
The latest polls show he has a surprising advantage over McCain and is favored by up to 62% of voters.
By Peter Wallsten, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 6, 2008

....Some Democrats have worried that Latinos view Obama warily and will be drawn to Republican nominee John McCain, who has been popular in that community and has campaigned in it aggressively -- already airing Spanish-language radio ads in the heavily Latino battlegrounds of New Mexico and Nevada. But there are signs that Obama begins the general election battle for Latinos with significant advantages.

A new Gallup Poll summary of surveys taken in May shows Obama winning 62% of Latino registered voters nationwide, compared with just 29% for McCain. Others have found a wide gap as well. The pro-Democratic group Democracy Corps compiled surveys from March through May that showed Obama with a 19-point lead among Latinos. And a Times poll published last month showed Obama leading McCain among California Latinos by 14 points.

Republicans say McCain's numbers among Latinos at the moment are disappointing -- far below the goals set by a campaign that has long believed McCain could challenge the traditional Democratic dominance of the Latino electorate. The numbers suggest that McCain's image has suffered after a competitive GOP primary in which he renounced some of the moderate views on immigration popular among many Latinos....

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Obama's sizable lead has surprised Democratic strategists after a primary campaign that appeared to foreshadow Latinos as a major weakness. The Gallup survey of Latinos found that Obama, despite his string of losses to Clinton, performed just as well as Clinton in a theoretical matchup against McCain.

Obama is "doing better than anyone imagined at this point," said Simon Rosenberg, head of the pro-Democratic group NDN, which specializes in Latino outreach. "But he does have room to grow."...

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-latinos6-2008jun06,0,5793717.story

[babylonsister]

1. Gramps has a tough road ahead of him, it would seem.

:D

[DeepModem Mom]

2. Yep -- this is really welcome info! nt

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. McCain has to walk a tightrope on immigration

To go too far in favor will gain some Latino votes, but will alienate the conservative "Minute Man" types. To go too far the other way will lose Latino votes.

Edited to add--this actually will make it easier for Obama. I hope all Dems keep on the lookout for anti-immigration statements made by McCain that we can use.

[Peacetrain]

4. Wonderful news!